


Actor, Father, Lover

by Jestana



Series: AU_Bingo [23]
Category: A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-22
Updated: 2010-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-13 23:31:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/142903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jestana/pseuds/Jestana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ralph is an actor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Actor, Father, Lover

**Author's Note:**

> Written for au_bingo on LJ for the prompt _Other: Actors_. Beta by unicorn_catcher and umbralillium.

**Actor, Father, Lover**

  
"Tom! It's been ages! How are you, old man?" Ralph Crewe grinned when he answered the door to his friend's knock.

Tom Carrisford grinned back as he stepped inside at his old friend's implicit invitation. "I'm quite well, Ralph. I noticed that your acting career has been picking up."

"I already have fanmail," Ralph commented with a groan, closing the door. "Especially when I made the mistake of mentioning in an interview that Sara's mother died giving birth to her."

The brunette winced as he removed his coat and the dark-haired man took it from him. "Ouch. Let me guess, lots of the fanmail has been from women offering to 'help' you raise Sara?"

"And get over my grief." Ralph rolled his eyes as he led the way into the living room.

A five-year-old girl with glossy black hair looked up from the book in her lap, smiling happily. "Papa, you're back!"

"Of course I am, little Sara." He crossed the room to sit down beside Sara. "I was letting in a friend of mine." He gestured to Tom, who joined them on the floor. "This is Tom Carrisford. Tom, this is my Sara."

Big gray-green eyes regarded Tom solemnly and he resisted the urge to fidget under the gaze that seemed far too mature for a five-year-old girl. "Hello, Sara. I'm pleased to meet you."

"Can I call you Uncle Tom?" she asked, even as she reached out to shake the hand he offered to her.

He glanced at his friend, who had an amused smile on his face. Looking back at the little girl, he nodded. "Of course. I'd be honored if you did."

"Good." Without further ado, she crawled into his lap. "Could you read to me?"

Exchanging an amused glance with Ralph, Tom accepted the book and began to read, already feeling quite at home with Sara.

* * *

  
"Excuse me, Miss, you dropped this." Fifteen-year-old Sara turned to see a girl a few years older than her with brown hair and grey eyes, holding out a cell phone.

Surprised, Sara checked her pockets and purse and realized that, sure, enough, she didn't have her cell phone. "Oh, thank you very much, um, what's your name?"

"Becky, Miss Crewe," the brunette replied, smiling shyly at Sara.

Just as Sara was smiling shyly back, a boom reverberated through the set, followed by a wash of heat. "SHIT! How the hell did that go off _now_?"

"I don't know! It just went off!"

"Was anyone near there?"

"I saw Ralph Crewe near the area just five minutes ago."

" _SHIT_!"

Sara stood frozen to the spot, staring at the smoke floating up from the explosion. "Papa?"

She hardly noticed when Becky wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her over to a nearby chair. "You'd better sit down before you fall down, Miss."

The teenager resisted, though, when Becky tried to make her sit down. "Papa!"

Sara tried to run towards the smoke, but someone held her back. "You can't help him, Miss! Just stay here and let the professionals take care of it."

"PAPA!" Tears began running down her cheeks as she saw an ambulance drive up to the smoking set.

Another pair of arms wrapped around her, accompanied by a familiar voice. "Calm down, Sara. Ralph is alive, just badly injured."

"Uncle Tom!" Sara turned and flung her arms around her father's best friend.

He murmured soothingly and stroked her back. "He'll be all right, little Sara. He'll be all right."

* * *

  
Hours later found Tom and Sara seated on either side of Ralph's bed at the hospital, both of them holding onto one of his hands. Luckily, the actor hadn't been caught in the blast itself, but the concussion itself had been strong enough to knock the dark-haired man off his feet and into the set. He'd been knocked out by the impact and had yet to wake up, despite having had all of his injuries mended as best they could be. Sara, her eyes red-rimmed, had finally fallen asleep, still clutching her father's hand. Tom himself couldn't sleep until he spoke to his lover and reassured himself that Ralph would be all right. "Tom? Sara?"

"Ralph?" Tom straightened and shifted so he could look at Ralph's face, even as he felt the lean hand he held in both of his squeeze a little. "We're here."

Green eyes opened just barely, a very faint smile curving Ralph's lips. "Hello, old man."

"This is hardly the time for 'hello', soldier," Tom retorted, even as he freed one hand to wipe away the tears of relief that sprang to his eyes. "You gave Sara and me quite a scare today."

The other man's expression turned contrite. "I didn't mean to, you know. It wasn't supposed to explode just then."

"I know. Mr. Carmichael explained the situation to me while we were waiting for news of you," the brunette replied, rubbing his thumb in circles on the back of Ralph's hand. "Sara was there when it happened, by the way."

Ralph's eyes widened with surprise, that emotion immediately replaced with worry. "Was she hurt at all?"

"No, but she was shouting for you when I got there." He glanced over at Sara, reassuring himself that she was still asleep. "Luckily, Becky Minchin was with her and kept her from running over to rescue you herself."

The lopsided smile that usually made Ralph look even more boyish than usual curved his lips this time as he turned his head so he could see her for himself. "That's my little Sara. She'd have been a knight-errant if she'd lived in the right time and been born a boy."

"You've said that." Tom smiled fondly, standing up so he could kiss Ralph's forehead. "I'm going to call the nurse. They wanted to know when you woke up."

Ralph tugged on Tom's hand. "Give me a proper kiss before you let them know."

Smiling, Tom did as Ralph asked. Now he _knew_ his lover was going to be all right.

 **End**


End file.
